ANALYSIS: Dump the gimmicky All-Star game

Pity Nicklas Lidstrom. What did the Red Wings' all-time great defenseman do to deserve this?

Lidstrom and Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes were named team captains for the NHL All-Star game that will be played Jan. 30 at Raleigh, N.C.

That means those two lucky(?) players will pick, during a Jan. 28 made-for-TV event, from a pool of talent rosters that will oppose one another in the All-Star game.

It's supposed to come off as a kind of fantasy draft, a let's-pick-sides process reminiscent of when kids choose teams for a game of pond hockey.

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It is different. I will give the NHL that much.

But the selection process smacks of giving painkiller to a stricken patient.

The drug will wear off quickly, and then the pain will return.

In this case, pain would come from having to actually watch the game to follow.

Over the years, the NHL has rolled out several All-Star game formats, including Wales Conference vs. Campbell Conference, East against West and North America against the World.

The latest gimmick is another attempt to inject relevance into an event that has outlived its usefulness.

A generation ago, before TV and the internet beamed every NHL game, or at least highlights, world-wide, it was treat to see professional hockey's top players on the ice together.

Now? Not so much.

If relevance is what the ice men seek, here's a concept: An All-Star game that looks like a real, serious, top-level professional contest, one with I-mean-it checks, hits, glares and the occasional dropping of gloves.

I know, that is not going to happen.

So what does it matter how cute the NHL gets when selecting the teams?

Scores of the last three All-Star games were 12-11, 8-7 and 12-9.

Defense was apparently as rare as a Detroit Lions playoff win.

In three years since 2005, there wasn't even an All-Star game played. Twice the NHL was involved in an Olympic tournament and once there was no season due to a lockout.

Three years with no All-Star game, yet civilization did not crumble.

The NHL should keep the All-Star break, and give its fans a break.

Take three days off. Rest up. Perhaps undertake a community-conscious activity to help the less fortunate.